Burner for solidified fuels



March 19, E. R. ZEITZ 1,995,049

*"BURNE'R' F'oR" SOLIDIFIED FUELS Filed March 4, 1932 3 Sheds-Sheet 1 March 19, 1935. E. R, ZEITZ BURNER FOR SOLIDIFIEID FUELS Filed March 4, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 19, 1935. E. R. ZElTZ 1,995,049

OR so Filed March 4, 1932. 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Mar. 19, 1935 UNITED STATES Ars'r oFFiacE 1,995,049 BURNER FOR SO LIDIFIED FUELS Edwin E. Zeitz, New Haven, Conn.

Application March 4, 1932, Serial No. 596,696

' I 7 Claims. (01. 158-97) This invention relates to burners for solidified fuels and more particularly ,to a burner fora solidified hydro-carbon fuel such as solidified gasoline, kerosene, or the like. Fuels of this character have been manufactured such that the fuel passes directly from a solidified form into a gaseous form without having to pass through the liquid form common to most melting solids. In other words, the vapor evolves directly from the solidified fuel.

In using fuels of this character, some difiiculty has been experienced in securing the evolution of the vapor at a proper rate to feed a fiame of thedesired intensity and in so controlling and mixing the evolved gas that a blue hot flame will be secured without objectionable smoke or fumes. In other words, the ends to be desired are to secure the evolution of gas at a sufficiently rapid rate'to obtain a desired amount of heat and to insure good combustion of' the vapor evolved.

One object of my invention is to provide a burner for solidified fuels such that the evolution of gas from the fuel may be carried on at a rapid rate while the burner is in operation, and which will provide a steady and hot fiame from the combustion of the evolved gas.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a burner for soldified fuels, such as gasoline or kerosene, which may be employed for usual household purposes.

A still further object of the invention is the provision'in a. burner of the character described, of means for increasing the evolution of vapor from the solidified fuel by providing a flame in the fuel chamber, the function of whichwill be to produce increased evolution of vapor.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of'parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings: Fig. l is a side elevational view of a burner embodying my improvements;

a Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the burner; I

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig.3; a

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the burner support;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a modified form of fuel container;

Fig. 7 is a side elevational View, partly broken away, showing a modified form of burner, and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 8-8 of Fig. '7.

In order to illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, I have shown in Figs. 1 to 5 in the drawings, 'a burner structure comprising 5 a burner support having an upper ring-like supporting member 10, which is carried upon supporting legs 11, three of which are shown in the drawings. As shown particularly in Figs. 3 and 5, the ring 10 is recessed at its lower surface as at 12 and is provided with retaining lugs 13, which extend in a radial direction over the recessed portion. A fuel container is shown at 14 and is of cup-shaped form and provided at the upper end with a laterally directed flange 15 in which'are slots or openings 16. These openings are equal in number to that of the lugs 13 and are similarly spaced sothat when the fuel container is brought to aposition wherein the slots 16 register with the lugs 13, it may be moved upwardly until the flange 15 enters the recess 12, at which time, by a slight turning movement the slots will be moved out of registration with the lugs, and the lugs by engagingbelow a solid. portion of the flange 15 will support the fuel container in place.

The form of fuel container shown in Fig. 3 is provided with a central hollow stem or pipe 17* to admit atmospheric air to the container above the fuel. It will also. be understood that the fuel 18 does not completely fill the container, so that a space 19 will remain at the top for the evaporating flame, as will be hereinafter described.

Above the burner support is a gas drum, or reservoir 20 which, as shown, is of hollow cylindrical form and is provided upon its exterior surface with ears 21 through which pass adjusting screws 22 which serve to support thedrum. As shown, there are three of these screws, and they rest directly upon the ring 10. It will be seen that these screws may be adjusted to vary the distance between the lower portion of the drum 20 and the ring 10, which also serves to vary the effective size or depth of'the space 19 and admits an increased supply of air above the fuel in the fuel container 14. 45

of radially disposed openings.

At the upper end, the drum is provided with an inwardly turned flange 27, to which is secured a disk 28 by means of strap members 29 which may be welded or otherwise secured to the flange 2'7 and disk 28. The disk is disposed centrally with respect to theflange 27 and is of such size relatively to the flange that an annular space is left therebetween, this annular space being covered by a screen 29 secured to the disk and flange. A screen 30 of cylindrical form is positioned about the outer edge of the disk 28 so that this screen is disposed in an upstanding position about the inner edge of the screen 29 A slide 31 is adapted to be moved into position between the ring 10 and the bottom of the drum 29 in order to prevent the fuel vapor passing from the fuel container 14 into the drumor reservoir 20. This will, of course, extinguish the flame above the burner as well as extinguish the evaporating flame within the space 19 and will retain any fuel which has already been evaporated within the space 19, so that no objectionbe understood that the screws 22 may be adjusted to vary the air space between the drum 20 and ring 10 so as to admit more or less air to the space 19 to regulate the evaporating flame as desired. This regulation may, of course, be effected with the fuel container 14 as well as when the fuel container 32 is used. 7

In Figs. '7 and 8 of the drawings, I have shown a somewhat modified form of my invention, the distinction between this form and that shown in Figs. 1 to 5 of the drawings residing in the lower portion of the drum or reservoir. As shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings,'no screen is provided at the lower end of the drum 20 but instead the bottom 33 of this drum is provided with a number A shutter 34 is pivoted at its central portion 35 to the drum bottom 33, and as shown in Fig. 8, this shutter is likewise provided with a plurality of radially disposed openings 36 which match in location and size the openings in the drum bottom 33.

The plate 34 is provided with a lug 37 extend: ing outwardly through a slot 38 in the wall of the drum, by which the shutter may be moved. As stated above, inthe position shown in Fig. 8, the openings in the shutter are in registration with the drum bottom. When, however, the lug 37 is moved to the other end of the slot 38, the openings 36 will lie opposite the solid portions of the drumbottom so that none of the vapor may pass through, which will, of course, result in the extinguishing of the flame.

The operation of my device may be briefly described, as follows: The fuel container 14 is removed from position by disengaging it from the lugs 13. A match or other flame is then applied to the upper surface of the solid fuel therein, and the container is replaced in its operative position.

The fuel burns at its upper surface with a small ring of flame about the upper end of the stem or pipe 17, the combustion being supported by air entering through this opening. If air is permitted to enter the space 19 below the drum or reservoir 20, depending upon the adjustment of the screws 22, the flame will expand and burn between the pipe 17 and the outer wall of the container. This flame in the space 19 serves as an evaporating flame in that it heats the upper surface of the fuel and causes a relatively rapid, but controlled, evolution of fuel vapor. This fuel vapor, or fuel in gaseous form, passes upwardly through the screen 25 into the drum or reservoir 20. The evaporating flame is prevented from entering this drum by the screen, as

the gas above the screen is not brought to a sufflciently high temperature to ignite.

This gas then passes out of the drum through the screen 29, where it is ignited and burns with a hot blue flame of cylindrical form about the screen 39. This latter screen serves as a flame .guard and prevents the burning gases from converging in cone shape fashion, which would interfere with complete combustion and maintains the flame in cylindrical form so that complete combustion of the fuel is effected, and an efficient hot flame results.

If the evolution of gas from the solidified fuel is not sufficiently rapid, the screws 22 may be adjusted so as to permit more air to enter the space 19 below the surface of the drum 20. Conversely, if it is desired to cut down the flame, the screws 22 may be adjusted in the opposite direction so as to drop the drum 20 closer to the ring 10. It will be, of course, understood that during the operation of the burner, the slide 31 is removed from the position shown in Fig. 3 so thatv the gas from the fuel will be free to leave the container and pass upwardly through the screen 25. When it is desired to extinguish the burner, the plate 31 is replaced in theposition shown in Fig. 3, which will immediately cut off the supply of gas to the drum 20 and. thus extinguish the flame about the screen 30, and will also extinguish the evaporating flame in the space 19. V

In the form of my invention shown in Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawings, the shutter arrangement takes the place of the screen 25, and when it is desired to extinguish the flame, it is only necessary to move the shutter 34 by means of the lug 37. This will cause the openings in the bottom of the drum 20 to lie opposite the solid portions of the shutter, so that there will be no passage of fuel gas into the drum, and the flame will be extinguished. In the event that a highly volatile fuel is being used, the evaporating flame may still burn, provided the adjustment of the screws 22 is such as to admit sufficient air below the drum 20 to support it. In this instance, it will be necessary to adjust the screws 22 to lower the drum 20 in order to extinguish the evaporating flame.

While I have shown and described a. preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A burner for solidified fuels comprising a reservoir, means to support a fuel container below said reservoir, a perforated member between said container and reservoir, and said reservoir having an elongated narrow opening at the upper end thereof, said opening being screen-covered to prevent the combustion flame passing down- Wardly into the reservoir, and said perforated member preventing a flame from passing upwardly into the reservoir.

2. In a burner for a subliming solidified fuel, a drum or reservoir, an open container for the fuel mounted below said reservoir, there being a vaporization space between the top of said fuel and the bottom of the reservoir, means providing an air supply to said space to support an evaporating flame therein, a perforated member at the bottom of said reservoir to prevent said flame passing upwardly into the reservoir, and said reservoir having openings at the upper portion thereof to permit emission of gas therefrom.

3. In a burner for a subliming solidified fuel, a drum or reservoir, a container for the fuel mounted below said reservoir, there being a vaporization space between the top of said fuel and the bottom of the reservoir, means providing an air supply to said space to support an evaporating flame therein, a heat-disseminating member at the bottom of said reservoir to prevent said flame passing upwardly into the reservoir, and said reservoir being provided with an opening at the upper portion thereof and a screen covering said opening.

4. In a burner for a subliming solidified fuel, a fuel container, a drum supported above the container, said drum having openings at the bottom and top thereof, perforated members covering said openings to prevent a flame passing into the container, and means to admit air to the space above the fuel in the container.

5; A burner for solidified fuels comprising a reservoir, means to support a supply of fuel below said reservoir, means to admit air to the space above the fuel supply to there support an evaporating flame, said reservoir having an opening at its lower end communicating with said space, and said reservoir having an opening at the upper end thereof and a screen covering said opening.

6. A burner for solidified fuels comprising a reservoir, means to support a supply of fuel below said reservoir, means to admit air to the space above the fuel supply to there support an evaporating flame, said reservoir having an opening at its lower end communicating with said space, said reservoir also having an opening at the upper end thereof, a screen covering said opening, said opening being of annular form, and. a flame guard within said opening and upstanding from the reservoir.

7. A burner for solidified fuels comprising a reservoir, means to support a fuel container below the reservoir, a perforated member between said container and the reservoir, means to admit air to the space above the fuel in said container to there support an evaporating flame, and said reservoir having an elongated narrow opening at the upper end thereof and a screen covering said opening.

EDWIN R. ZEITZ. 

